The Kane Chronicles: The Gathering of Forces
by mallow45
Summary: Chris Riker would have never thought he had Egyptian blood, but it is revealed that he does. The day he recieves an urgent message from two kids, he has to make a choice: continue on with his normal life, or join the fight against the forces of Apophis.
1. Chapter 1: I Dream About The Lakers and

**-Chapter 1: I Dream About The Lakers and a Locker-**

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If you're listening to this, then there's one thing that you MUST know. What we're about to tell you is not some made up fantasy that we're making out of boredom. It's all true, and if you don't want to be a part of it, then throw this recording away. However, if you do want to be a part of it, then listen to the whole story and follow the instructions given at the end. After that, your life will change. Trust me, once you've listened to this story, your life won't ever be the same again. I guess I'll start with the day I had the dream that brought me here.

I was standing in the middle of the Los Angeles Lakers Arena in the Staples Center. It was completely empty, the score board was off, and the retired jerseys that usually hung above were missing. I tried to walk out of the arena, but my legs refused to work. I tried to call out to see if anyone was there, but no sound came out of my mouth. A few seconds later, three Lakers jerseys appeared in front of me out of no where. In order from to left to right was Chamberlain, Johnson, and Abdul-Jabbar. 13/32/33. At the time, I figured it was just another one of my common basketball fantasies, but later it would turn out to be a lot more important than that. I blinked and the scene changed. I was standing in the eighth grade hallway of my school, Eagle Ridge Middle School. There were two kids at my locker, which was locker 24. [Yeah Carter, I know that's Kobe Bryant's number.] There was an african-american boy talking to a light skinned girl with caramel hair.

They were talking, but I could only hear bits and pieces of what they were saying.

"Are...sure...this?" The boy said.

The...partially...Duat...store...amulet...person... opens it," the girl replied.

"But..._djed_...hands.

My strange dream was cut short by my alarm clock going off. I groaned and started to get ready for the first day back from the break. I wasn't looking forward to it at all. Looking back on it, could I have avoided what happened next if I had just decided to brush my dream off as a strange coincidence? I guess I'll never know.

I started off my day the way I do every single day. I took a hot shower to wake me up. After that, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Then I sat down at the dinner table and had a bowl of reeses puffs. I was always the first one out of bed, and I was always the first one out of the house. I went outside to the bus stop.

"Hey man," I heard a guy say.

I turned to see my friend Ricky Owens standing behind me.

"Hey," I replied. "First day back. You tired?"

"Very," he said. "I stayed up to watch the Knicks game, and it went into triple over time."

"Knicks?" I said. "Dude, the Knicks are pretty terrible this season."

"Whatever," he shot back. "You only like the Lakers because they have Kobe."

"Oh, bull crap. You know I'm from Los Angeles!"

"Yeah well-"

"Are you two getting on or what?" We heard an annoyed voice say.

I turned to see that the bus had pulled up without us noticing.

We both got onto the bus, hearing snickers from a few kids. We found a seat at the back of the bus, trying to avoid the stares other kids were giving us. As if it was the strangest thing in the world for two teenaged boys to be talking about basketball. After the whole thing had subsided, we continued talking.

"I bet if the Knicks had Kobe, then the Lakers would suck," Ricky said.

"Dude, just drop it. I don't want to waste my time telling you how wrong that statement is."

"Alright Chris, whatever you say."

_-Eagle Ridge Middle School-_

Ricky and I walked into homeroom about five minutes before the bell. The classroom was pretty dead, as about half the class stayed up to watch the Knicks game, and the other half stayed up texting or playing around on their facebook or myspace profile. It looked like I was the only one that had enough sense to go to bed at a time that wouldn't make me dead-dog tired.

"Hi Chris," came a girl's voice next to me.

I turned my head to the left to see a girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes smiling at me.

I smiled back. "Hey Kelly."

Kelly Granger was one of the prettiest girls in the school. And on top of that, she wasn't vicious or stuck up like most of the other girls. She was probably one of the nicest girls on the whole freakin' planet. [Oh shut up Sadie, I'm not exaggarating. Yes she's nicer than you!] I didn't know why she spent a lot of her time around me. Did she like me? Did she think of us as friends? Did she feel sorry for me? (Okay, probably not the third one.) We talked for a few minutes about a whole bunch of random things like food, TV shows, and who would make it to the NBA finals. Yeah, on top of her looks and attitude, Kelly was also a big sports fan, cool coincidence huh? The bad thing was that she was a Celtics fan, and I was a Lakers fan,**(A/N: Lakers 2010 NBA champs!)** which equaled the biggest rivalry in sports, even bigger than the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry. About a minute before the bell rang, one of the front of the front office workers came over the intercom.

"Excuse me, but I need Chris Riker in the office for one moment to pick something up."

"Yes ma'am," Mr. King, my homeroom teacher said. "Chris, I'd hurry up if I were you, class is about to start."

"Yes sir," I said as I got out of my chair.

Ricky was at the pencil sharperner, which was located next to the door.

"Hey, did you forget something at home?" He asked as I opened the door.

"I've got no idea," I replied. "But I'm about to find out."

I walked down the eighth grade hall and found the entrance to the office. I walked in to see a cardboard box sitting on a worker's desk.

"Excuse me," I said to the worker.

She looked up. "Oh, Are you Chris Riker?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied. "Do you have something for me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do."

She stood up and grabbed the package off of her desk.

"This was left on my desk with your name on it. We don't know who brought it here, but it says it's for you."

She handed me the package. Dang, it was heavy!

"Um, could you hold this for me until the end of school?" i asked.

"Alright," the worker replied. "Just make sure it's picked up before 4:00."

"Yes ma'am."

_-After School-_

I started pulling the books I would need for homework out of my locker. All I had been thinking about all day was getting home and opening that package. I shut my locker and turned around, nearly bumping into Kelly.

"Didn't mean to startle you," she said.

"Oh, it's fine," I said.

I could feel my heart starting to race when I noticed how close I was to her.

"I was wondering if you wanted to study for the test on Friday."

Normally, I would have jumped at the chance to be with Kelly, but I wanted to see what was in the package. I had to think of something fast.

"Ok uh, why don't you come over around 5:30?"

"Okay, I'll see you then."

She smiled and winked before turning around and walking towards the front exit. I sighed and went to get the package from the office, then went to catch my bus.

_-The Rikers' Home-_

I put my backpack on the floor in my room and took the heavey package out of it. I looked at my digital watch to see that it was 3:15. I had a little over two hours before Kelly showed up. I just hoped to God she wouldn't be early. I opened the package, and took out what looked to be a tape player. On the front of it was a sticky note that read: _Press play. -CK. _I figured I had at least an hour before my parents showed up. I put the player on my bed, then I sat down next to it. I pressed play and heard a boy's voice come from the player.

_**"We Only have a few hours, so listen carefully..."**_

******Revies are appreciated! Maybe some pairings later on.**


	2. Chapter 2:I Get a Little Help From Death

**A/N: Wow, ten positive reviews on the first chaapter alone! I'll try to update faster, but it's sorta crazy cause I've got three stories I'm trying to focus on. But enough of this. It's time to see what Carter Kane has been up to since the events of The Red Pyramid.**

**-Chapter 2: I Get a Little Help From The Funeral God-**

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Alright then, while Chris was busy listening to our first story, here's what Sadie and I were up to. Khufu and I were outside on the basketball court, while Sadie was inside Uncle Amos's huge mansion, the twenty-first nome. I watched as Khufu tried to teach me how to cross over between my legs, but my mind was elsewhere. Ever since we had gone to that school and dropped off the amulet, I kept expecting a person to walk into our house and say that he or she was ready to join our cause. Of course, it was going to take time. But any day could be the day when Apophis rises, so I just wanted to be ready.

"_Agh!" _Khufu shouted.

I snapped back to reality. What was I doing? Oh yeah, Khufu was teaching me how go between my legs with the ball. He passed the ball to me and I caught it.

_"Agh!" _Khufu said, which probably meant, "now you try!"

I shrugged and copied his demonstration. He nodded in approval and I gave the ball back. At that moment, Sadie walked onto the court, still in her pajamas.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied sleepily. "Why?"

"Your hair," I said with a chuckle. "It's a mess." [Oh, c'mon Sadie, you should have seen it! Ow! Cut it out!]

"Well it's not like I can watch what my hair does in my sleep."

"_Agh! Agh!" _Khufu grunted, which probably meant, "Sadie, get off the court! We're busy!"

"Why are you out here anyway? I haven't seen you do anything outside since we got here."

She sighed, then started talking. "I just had a strange dream."

Uh-oh. That didn't sound good at all. Usually strange dreams have something to do with our _bas. _Which is like this spirit that you inhabit when you're asleep. Mine usually leads me to something important, like seeing what Set was up to about a month before.

"Is it bad?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure."

"Well what did you see?"

"I was in somebody's front lawn," she began. "I had the sudden urge to go into the house, so I did. I was able to just walk through the front door without anyone noticing me. I went into someone's bedroom and saw this guy sitting on a bed."

"So?" I cut in. "Some random dude sitting on a bed is pretty normal."

"Would you let me finish?" She snapped. "Carter, he was listening to our tape, and he was near the end of it."

I didn't know if I should have been happy that we might get a new ally, or worried about trying to convince him to leave his normal life.

"What do we do, Carter?" Sadie asked.

"We wait," I replied. "It's his choice, if he wants to forget about it, so be it. But if he finds the amulet, then he might not have a choice, once he gets a taste of that power."

"Well, then I'm going to go watch TV. I find these American shows quite entertaining."

"TV?" I asked. "Sadie, you're not usually the lazy type. Don't you think you should get up and do something, you know, productive?"

"Carter, I've just been really tired lately," Sadie began. "Maybe that _hi-nehm _spell took more out of me than I thought."

I seriously doubted that, but I didn't feel like argueing with her, so I just dropped it.

"Oh, by the way, how old did this guy look?" I asked.

"Not sure," Sadie said. "Probably about your age. The room looked like any normal 14-year American's bedroom."

That didn't make sense. We hadn't sent the tape to any kids, only adults. Great, now some random dude was probably gonna go show the tape to his friends and it'd be all over the news. I could see the headlines now. **"CARTER AND SADIE KANE, NOMINATED FOR WHACK-JOBS OF THE YEAR!" **[Aw, c'mon Chris, I didn't know at the time!]

"And one other thng. I think he lives in Eagle Ridge, Connecticut.** (A/N: Not a real town. Just fictional.) **The neighborhood looked pretty familiar."

Eagle Ridge. That meant whoever this guy was, he was close to the school we had dropped the package off at.

"Any idea who it might be?" I asked, not expecting good news.

"Maybe," she said thoughtfully. "I saw their mailbox. It had the name Riker painted on the side of it."

I thought for a moment, trying to think if we had sent one of the tapes to a Riker. I would have to look at the list of names I had written down earlier. The best case scenario was that this guy had just stumbled across his mom or dad's stuff and had seen the tape player. The worst case scenario was that we had sent the package to the wrong person. Dad would kill me if I told a regular person about the gods. About twenty minutes later, I went into the kitchen to raide the fridge. I got a bottle of gatorade and a box of cheeze-itz from the pantry. I sat there and munched on the crackers and gulped down gatorade until I was satisfied.

After that, I went back outside to practice my three-point shooting. I was too busy running around the three-point line taking shot after shot to notice that another person was standing behind me at half-court. I took a shot at the top of the key, but it turned out short. The ball went off the rim. Hard. It came right for my face, but luckily I ducked before it could give me a bloody nose. I turned around to see the guy standing at half court, holding my basketball. It took me a while to recognize him, that is until he spoke.

"Hello, Carter," the dude said.

"Anubis?" I said, surprised and very confused. "Wrong place dude. Sadie's in the living room."

"I did not come to speak to Sadie," Anubis replied calmly. "I have come to assist you in finding a new ally."

"Really?" I asked. "You know who this Riker kid is?"

"Indeed," the death god replied. "Tell me Carter, do you know who Rick Malone is?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, remembering that we had sent Malone a copy of the tape. "He's the guy who spends all of his time studying Egypt."

"Yes, and he also owns a funeral home. That would be the main reason he is my host."

"You have a host?" I asked, now more than a little shocked.

"Don't act so surprised. All gods have a host at one time or another. Once he got the package, I influenced him to send the package to Eagle Ridge. To Riker."

"But...why?" I asked, kind of mad Anubis would send the evidence of the gods' existance to some kid.

"Because, he has Egyptian blood, and I can sense great power bottled up within him. Power you and Sadie need to help him learn how to use. He may be able to rival even your powers."

He didn't need to say anything more. I was already convined that we needed this guy on our side. And we needed to get to him before The House of Life decided to fill him with that "the way of the gods sucks" crap.

"Do we need to go get him?" I asked.

"No need," Anubis replied with a smile. "He will have a guide. But he won't be here until after he finds the spine, which has not happened as of now."

Anubis gave me the basketball and took a few steps back.

"Chris Riker will be here soon enough. Remember Carter, The House of Life might try to go after him as well. If he is not here within a week, then go to Eagle Ridge and see if he is there. We can't afford to lose a valueable ally like him."

And with that, the funeral god disappeared, leaving me all alone on the court. The time had finally come. We were about to get another powerful magician on our side.

Unless The House of Life got him first.


	3. Chapter 3: I Dream About Strangers

**-Chapter 3: I Dream About Strangers-**

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_**"...Come to Brooklyn. We'll be waiting."**_

The tape stopped. I sat there, waiting for Carter's voice to come back and say "April Fools!" But there was no way that was happening any time soon. If what Carter and Sadie said was true, then why did I get the tape? I sure as hell didn't know how to get something like this published. There had to be a mistake. But then again, my name was on it! My parents weren't home yet, thankfully. They called about a half-hour before, saying they had a load of errands to run, which was fine by me. I sat there motionless, trying to believe that something like this could be real. Yeah, that's easier said than done.

Then the doorbell rang, which made me blast to my feet in a heartbeat. Who would be at the door? Ricky? No, he was at his cousin's house. Mike? No, he was at soccer practice. Brent? No, he moved to Japan. Kelly? Right, her! We were supposed to study for the test on Friday! I ran into my bathroom and looked into the mirror. I guess I looked alright, but I ran a comb through my dark brown hair just to be safe. I walked slowly to the front door and looked out the window. Yep, it was Kelly. I took a deep breath and opened the door. There she was, the most amazing girl in the world at MY doorstep. She held some textbooks and notebooks in her hands.

"Hi Chris," she said acting a bit bubbly.

"Hey," I replied, then noticed the books. "I'll get those for you."

She gave me her books and I went into the kitchen and put them on the counter, which I had cleaned the night before, luckily. She walked into the kitchen, wearing tight jeans and a plain green shirt. At least, I thought it was plain at first. She walked to the table and I saw the back of the shirt. On the back of the shirt was the number 9. And above the number was the name RONDO. **(A/N: Rajon Rondo is the starting point gaurd for the Celtics, in case you didn't know.)**

"So it's like that is it?" I asked jokingly.

"What do you mean?" She said, trying to tease me a little.

"Wait here," I said and ran into my room.

I rummaged through my closet until I found my Kobe Bryant jersey. I quickly threw it on over my black T-shirt and walked back into the kitchen.

Kelly was sitting at the table, cracking open her science textbook. I pulled up a chair and sat beside her, looking over her shoulder to see what she was reading about.

"Okay, this is what the test is gonna be over," she said, then chuckled when she saw my Lakers jersey.

"Hey you started it," I said.

"Whatever," she said.

She then took my right hand, which surprised me a little, and started talking about what we needed to study. [What? No I'm not gonna go into detail about what we were studying. Because it's pointless! Jeez Sadie, let me tell the freakin' story!]

_-Later-_

Kelly went home at about 7:00, and my parents got home just a few minutes after she left. I had to help get the junk load of groceries crammed into the trunk of Dad's car. Oh, and in case you were wondering, my dad's name is Richard Riker, and my mom's name is Katie Riker. Dad was out back grilling some steak while Mom was in the kitchen preparing green beans, rolls, and sweet patatoe fries. **(A/N: I've had those before by the way, and they are AWESOME.) **I was in the living room watching a Lakers game. It was kind of boring though. The Lakers were opening up a can of whup-ass and were leading the Dallas Mavericks by thirty-four points. So yeah, it really wasn't much of a game at all. About three minutes later, Dad opened the back door and poked his head in.

"Hey Chris," he called. "You wanna come shoot some hoops with your old man? You could use some practice."

"Well, the season ended like a month ago Dad. So it's not like I really _need _practice right now," I said.

"Well, you wanna make varsity next season, don't you? It's completely different from playing for a middle school team."

Well, he got me there. Okay, I'm not exactly a bragger, but I was actually a really good basketball player. I had played for Eagle Ridge Middle School my seventh and eight grade season, and I had started in every single game. I was one of the best point gaurds in the city of Eagle Ridge. I could pass, shoot, go both left and right, and play vicious defense. And I wasn't a ball hog either. I was always looking to set my team mates up for easy baskets. Dad was right though, no matter how good I seemed at that point, I had to get better if I wanted to play high school, and one day even college basketball. I had even heard a rumor that the head coach at Eagle Ridge High School was already looking to put me on his team my freshman year.

"Alright," I said. "You win."

He smiled. "Well, I hope you're ready to get schooled by your old man."

"i wouldn't count it."

_-After dinner-_

I had made the decision not to tell my parents about the tape player I had recieved. I didn't want this thing to spread all across the United States, which would probably put Carter and Sadie in a mental hospital, make Egyptoligists go crazy looking for magicians or gods, and the freakin' FBI would probably take me somewhere to perform hundreds of tests to see if I was a magician or not. At about 10:00 I got into bed. The Lakers game had ended, and the Mavs had lost by a grand total of forty points. A few minutes later, I nodded off into a deep sleep.

This might be a little hard to describe, but here I go. I was floating above my bed, the bed that still had my body in it. I could see my still sleeping form. My first thought was that I needed a haircut. My second thought was _holy crap! Am I dead! _But no, I could still hear myself breathing. I looked down at the body I was inhabiting at that moment, and got a rude surprise. I was a freakin' human headed turkey. I thought I was dreaming, but it seemed all too real to be a dream. Alright, so the first order of business was to take care of my fatso turkey body. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine myself in my human form. I opened my eyes to see that the turkey body was no longer there, and in its place was my human body.

A few seconds later, everything went black, then I found myself standing in a room lit by a candle with a girl sleeping on a sheetless, pillowless matress. I was glad to know that my legs worked in this state, which allowed me to walk over to the bed. I looked at the girl to see her features. The girl was coppery skinned with a little lower than shoulder length dark hair. I also saw slight Arab features on her face. I realized that the girl before me must have been Zia Rashid. It seemed that her hair had grown longer while she was in her sleeping state. a door opened and a man walked through holding a glass of water and a loaf of bread. It seemed he could not see me in my dream state.

The man walked over to Zia and put two fingers on her forehead. About five seconds later, her amber eyes fluttered open. She then sat up, taking the water and bread the man offered to her.

"Where am I?" She asked groggily.

"No time to explain," the man said. "It is time for you to come back. We all need you."

"Iskandar. Where is he?"

"I am sorry, Zia Rashid, Iskandar has been dead for a while now. His old age finally caught up with him."

Zia didn't cry, but there was a sad expression on her face. She bowed her head in respect for the old man. The man held a blue sphere in his hand, and held it out to Zia.

"These are your memories now. Your _shabti_ counterpart documented every memory she had while standing in your place. You will need them to know what our status is right now."

Zia took the ball, which seemed to turn to dust in her hand. Her eyes widened at the sudden flow of memories attacking her brain.

"You must go to Eagle Ridge Middle School, Rashid," the man said. "Find the Riker boy, then take him to Carter and Sadie Kane in the Twenty-First Nome. Once you reach that point, you shall recieve further instructions."

The man then threw a pile of clothes into her lap.

"I will meet you outside. Please hurry, Zia Rashid."

The man exited, giving Zia some privacy. She looked down at the clothes, processing all of the memories that had just been given to her.

"Carter..." She said softly.

_-Morning-_

I woke up about five minutes before my alarm went off. I switched it off, glad I didn't have to listen to its annoying blare that morning. I knew what I had to do, and I was dead set on it. Had to put the 13/32/33 combination into my locker, even thought its combination was really 2/24/16. I also had to be on the lookout for Zia. She would be looking for me.

And so we go.


	4. Chapter 4: Zia Uses a Pay Phone

**-Chapter 4: Zia Uses a Pay Phone-**

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[That's it, I'm taking the mic.] Honestly, Carter and Chris have just simply been hogging the mic. This recording business is so much harder when there's more than two people telling the story. [That's right Chris, I'm talking to YOU.] Anyway, I guess I should start the day after Anubis visited Carter. (Which I didn't know about until Carter said it during his turn.) It was storming outside, so that put a bit of a damper on things. Khufu was insisting that Carter go out and play basketball with him anyway, but my brother kept saying if they did, then they would get struck by lightning. As if on cue, after he said that, we all saw a huge bolt of lightning crack across the sky, making Khufu jump about seven feet into the air.

_"Agh!" _He screeched, then ran towards the kitchen.

"See, I told you!" Carter called to him.

"Quite a storm isnt it?" A voice said behind me.

I sat up from the couch and looked behind me to see a woman in a leopard jump suit with cat eyes. It was our chaperone/goddess Bast, the goddess of cats, who had been inside of my beloved cat Muffin for most of my childhood.

"No kidding," Carter said while sitting on the other couch in front of the TV, watching ESPN.

"There's nothing to do except sit around and watch TV," he complained, then let out a yawn.

"Can't we go somewhere?" I asked. "To the movies, or the bowling alley, or something?"

"You know we can't," Bast said, a can of friskies appearing in her hand. "We have to be here when this Riker boy you told me about gets here, _if _he gets here."

"What do you mean if?" I asked, surprised. "Why wouldn't he come? He knows that we need our help."

"Well, if he doesn't come, it's probably because he's not looking forward to meeting you," Carter said, trying not to grin.

I glared at him for a few seconds, then turned back to Bast.

"Sadie," she started. "We're not the only ones trying to recruite potential magicians. You must remember that The House of Life are not exactly fans of ours. I know that they will try to get Riker before we do."

Well, she had a point. Bast ripped open the can of friskies with one of her long, sharp knives and started chomping on the strange food. I hadn't had brekfeast yet, so I went into the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of frosted flakes. I sat there, eating the sweet tasting cereal. The only sounds in the house were the TV and me munching on my cereal. Bast had finished her friskies and was curled up on a pillow in front of the fire place, taking a cat nap. It was weird seeing her human form in that position, and it made me chuckle to myself. It made me remember all of the times she had been in that position sleeping on my bed while Muffin was hosting her. I put my bowl and spoon into the sink and started walking to my room. Carter was passed out on the couch, Khufu was barking at the sky, probably telling it to stop raining, and Bast was sleeping next to the fire place.

I went into my room to find Muffin curled up on my bed, dead asleep. Well, that was a weird coincidence, everyone in the house except Khufu was sleeping. I was about to pull up the internet on the new computer I had bought with my savings about a week before, but then I heard the phone ring from the kitchen. I was thinking that Carter would probably answer it, but then I remembered that he was asleep. I ran into the kitchen, almost slipping on the tiled floor in there. I grabbed the phone and answered it on the third ring.

"Hullo?" I said, a little winded from the short run I had taken to the phone.

"Sadie Kane?" Asked a very familiar voice.

"Yes, this is she," I said, starting to get a headache.

Why couldn't I remember?

"This is Zia Rashid. The real one, not the _shabti_ fake."

"Zia?" I asked, totally stunned. "I thought you were in some far off place where no one could find you?"

"I was," she replied. "I have been asleep for a very long time. Right now I'm at an airport found somewhere in the United Kingdom. I'm about to board a plance bound for Eagle Ridge, Connecticut. I have to find Chris Riker, then I'm going to Brooklyn to meet up with you and Carter."

"You know about the Riker guy?" I asked, shocked.

"A man told me about him. He is the same man who woke me up. He hasn't bothered to tell me his name yet, but he must have good reasons."

There was an awkaward silence. I knew she was working up the nerve to ask, so I decided to ask for her.

"Do you want to speak to him?"

'Yes," was her simple answer.

"Okay, one second," I said as I started walking towards my sleeping brother.

"Carter," I said in his ear.

No response. I shook him a little, but he didn't budge.

"Carter," I said, louder this time.

No response. I then noticed that Khufu had passed out next to the window and had his head on his basketball.

"Bast?" I said as I ran over to the cat goddess.

I shook her as hard as I could, but she didn't stir. I then had the horrifying realization.

"Zia, I have to go," I said, then hung up.

I stood in the middle of the living room, staying alert.

"Come out. I know you are here!" I shouted as loud as I could.

"I guess you figured it out," a voice said.

I turned around to see a man come out of a closet near Uncle Amos's room. It was a House of Life magician. It looked like they wanted to have Riker to themselves.

"You will not be gaining Chris Riker as an ally," he said, his cold blue eyes sending shivers down my spine.

How was this possible? There was magic protecting the Twenty-First Nome. There was no way he could have broken it.

"How did you get here?" I demanded.

"That's classified," he said with no emotion. "Now it is about time for you to take a little nap. Don't worry, we'll take good care of our future prodigy, Chris Riker."

A wand appeared in his hand. I looked at the ceiling above him. It looked like it would be enough to knock him out, so I made a split-second decision. I focused all of my energy on the ceiling above him.

_"Ha-di!" _I shouted, praying that it would work.

It did.

Masses of debris landed on his head, knocking him off of his feet. As he fell, I heard a crack somewhere on his head. Oh god, had I just commited murder? I ran over to the magician to inspect him for any critical damage. I realized what had happened when I saw a huge hole in the back of his head. It was a_ shabti. _It was like the ones Carter and I had fought a while back when we had first met Thoth. It looked like The House of Life didn't want to do their own dirty work, and just decided to send fake magicians to kill us.

I heard Carter groan. I turned to see him getting up from the couch, rubbing his head.

"What did I eat last night?" He asked, then saw the big hole in the ceiling. "Aw man, not again."

"Look," I said, pointing at the broken _shabti. _"That thing put you all to sleep. If I hadn't realized it sooner, he would have gotten me as well."

I grabbed the phone, ready to call Zia back, but when I checked the caller ID, it said **UNKNOWN NAME, UNKNOWN NUMBER. **She must have been using a pay phone.

"We have to be more careful from now on," Carter said, running a hand through his hair. "We can't afford to lose Chris Riker to The House of Life."

**(A/N: Whoo, my first Sadie chapter. Tell me if she's OCC at all. I'm not very good writing from a girl's point of view, let alone a BRITISH girl's point of view. Next chapter we go back to Eagle Ridge to see what Chris is up to. How am I doing on point of view switches? I know I'm writing in Chris's point of view most of the time. Should I give the Kanes more time? Or is what I'm doing fine?**


	5. Chapter 5: Departure

**-Chapter 5: Departure-**

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The day started out like a regular Tuesday morning, no gods, no _ba_, and no Zia. As I made my way to the bus stop, I noticed that Kelly was waiting there that morning, which was pretty rare. Kelly hated riding buses, so her big sister Kylie, who went to Eagle Ridge High School, usually dropped Kelly off on her way to school. Ricky walked out of his house just as my right foot left my driveay and hit the street. He jogged up to me, grinning like an idiot.

"Hey man," I said, acting like I didn't know what he was smiling about.

"Dude," he said. "Are you blind or something? That's Kelly Granger standing right there, the girl you've liked since the first gra-"

I punched him in the shoulder, signaling him to shut up, as she was now within ear shot of us. I put my hands in my jeans pockets, trying to look cool, I guess. She smiled when she noticed us walking towards her.

"Hey you guys," she said, as if she weren't even tired.

Wow, blondes were pretty chirpy in the morning.

"Hey," Ricky and I said at the same time.

"You sure are peppy this morning," Ricky muttered. "Did you drink a gallon of coffee or something before you left?"

I had to laugh at that. Ricky was pretty funny. People loved to hear him talk, as he usually said something funny every few sentences. It got him in a good deal of trouble with the teachers though.

"So," he said. 'You two gonna hold hands on the bus?"

"Shut up Ricky," Kelly and I both said at the same time.

_-Mr. King's classroom-_

the three of us walked into homeroom about five minutes before the bell was supposed to ring. Mr. King was at his desk, tossing his football signed by Peyton Manning up, then catching it. He looked kind of excited when he saw Ricky and I.

"Guys," he said as he walked quickly towards us.

"Hey Mr. king," I said. "What's up?"

"It was on the news this morning," he styarted. "Our eight grade boys and girls teams have been chosen to play in the Connecticut Middle School Basketball Tournament."

If I hadn't been awake a few seconds before, I was at that moment. I had been wanting to play in that tournament since elementary school. I kind of wish Mr. King hadn't told me that, beacuse I was jittery and my mind kept wandering off to fantasies of me driving in the lane, making lay ups on the biggest centers and getting fouled at the same time. I imagined myself knocking down threes, and of course I imagined myself hoisting the big trophy above my head. The first round was going to be at our gym. We were matched up against the Dale Richardson Middle School Knights. We had beat them in the county championship game by one point. We had been tied at twenty seconds to go in the fourth quarter when their shooting guard faked a three pointer. Ricky made the mistake of jumping, which gave the guard an oppurtunity to drive in for an easy lay up.

Our power forward, Jimmy Jackson, inbounded the ball to me and I made a break for our side of the court with thirteen seconds to go. They all expected me to take the last shot, so I was double teamed. That was their one huge mistake. I stood near half-court,waiting until the time had dropped to six seconds. After that, I dribbled towards the key, and sure enough, I was double teamed. I was being guarded by their point guard and the shooting guard that had made the lay up a few seconds before. Perfect. I drove until I was at about at the free throw line, then I saw Ricky all alone on the right wing of the three point line. I did a behind the back pass to Ricky. He caught the ball with three seconds to go. He let it go, the buzzer sounding just before the ball dropped, hitting nothing but net.

"Chris Riker!" My science teacher, Mrs. Stevens shouted, bringing me back to reality. I looked up to see that she was pointing to a word on the board, a stern look on her face.

"Uh, yes Mrs. Stevens?" I said, trying not to sound embarassed.

"I asked you to tell me the definition of this word."

I looked at the word, relieved that I knew what it meant, as I had studied it with Kelly the day before. I told her what it meant.

"Well, you are very lucky you already knew what it meant," she said. "Honestly, this basketball tournament has got you all in lala land."

Well, she hit the nail on the head. If I didn't play soon, I would go crazy.

_-Gym class-_

I guess this part is where my week started to take a turn for the worst. I was in the locker room, changing into gym clothes. As I pulled my Nike high tops on, I heard a sound, and instantly knew what it was. After I pulled my shoes on, I went into the hallway leading to the gym and looked out the window. I could see a plane in the distance, a plane that could very well be carrying Zia Rashid and the other man. This kind of freaked me out at the time, but I understand it now.

_You must go to them._

Huh? I turned around to find out who had said that. There was no one there.

"Riker!" Coach Parker barked. "Quit standing around and get out here! We've got some volleyball to play!"

Well, volleyball wasn't exactly my favorite gym class activity, but it sure beat running laps. I hurried to the shoulder to shoulder line the other guys were in. The coaches were sending us to different teams. As we got set to play, I heard the voice again.

_They are coming to get you. Be ready._

_-Wednsday-_

The day had finally come! All day, I couldn't stop thinking about the game. I tried to pay attention in class, but I just couldn't focus on anything besides the tournament. All day, it seemed like things were going in slow motion, which made me want to play even more. During gym class, while everyone else went outside, both eighth grade teams had practice to prepare for the game after school. I got even more pumped when Coach Parker brought out our uniforms from the season. I never thought that I would ever put a Soaring Eagles jersey on ever again, but it was happening. We all started taking our shorts and jerseys from the box. I looked until I found the one I had worn all season. I held it up, it had the number thirteen on the front of it, and above it the words Soaring Eagles. It also had the number on the back.

I don't know why, but thirteen was my favorite number. Some people say it's unlucky, but nobody ever saw me screwing up on the court.

_-After school-_

The final bell of the day was music to my ears. I half walked, half ran back to my locker and put my hand on my locker to dial the combination. I don't know why I did it, but I put in the combination 13/32/33. I opened the locker to see a box sitting there all by itself. my books were all gone. I knew what it was, but I didn't have time to look at it. I closed my locker and put in the regular combination. When I opened it, everything was back. I put the box and my books into my backpack and started walking towards the gym. The game wouldn't start until 5:00, so we had more practice time. When I got there, Ricky and Ty Anderson were already dressed and were shooting around. I saw the soccer players comeing out of the locker room, Kelly included. I gave a small wave as I made my way into the boys locker room.

I took off my T-shirt and put a white one on in its place. I pulled my jeans off and put on my game shorts. I then put on my Soaring Eagles jersey, which was white with blue letter. Those were our school colors, blue and white. As I pulled on my basketball shoes, my team mates started pouring into the locker room, some saying hey or clapping me on the back. We were all ready to play some ball. After we were all out in the gym, Coach Parker blew his whistle and we all ran towards him.

"Alright gentleman," he started. "It looks like our time as a basketball team isn't over just yet. Whether it stays that way at the end of today will be totally up to you. If we lose this game, we're eleminated."

We all exchanged solomn looks. There was no way we were losing this game.

"I want you to treat this game like it's the playoffs, and I guess it is, technically speaking. We're going to go over our plays from the season so we know what we're doing out there. But first we need to warm up. Get into your layup lines."

_-Ten minutes bef__o__re the game-_

The day got weird when I went into the hallway to get some water from the fountain.

"Are you Chris Riker?" A voice said.

I turned around to see someone I wished wasn't there.

"Zia Rashid," I said without even thinking.

"How did you..?" She started, but then shook her head. "Nevermind. You must come with me now. Some people need our help."

"What? Hell no! I've got a game to play in. There's no way you're taking me away now," I said, angry at the fact that she wanted to take me away from something I had waited so long for.

"Riker, please listen to-"

"No! Egypt can wait! You don't need me. Go ruin someone else's life!"

It hadn't occured to me until then, but I was angry. Angry that people wanted to take me from my life and turn me into some magician. Well, I wasn't going to have it. I was going to play in that game, and no one was going to stop me.

I walked back towards the gym, turning my back on Zia Rashid.

"Riker, you're making a mistake!" She shouted. "We need you!"

I ignored her. As I walked into the gym, I noticed there were only three minutes left until tip-off.

"Chris!" I heard someone shout.

I looked to the stands to see Kelly, still in her practice soccer jersey.

"Good luck!" She called to me.

I gave her a thumbs up and walked to my team's bench. Coach Parker started reviewing plays, saying we had to play solid defense and make them have to take jump shots. We didn't want them driving in for an easy layup. The starting lineup was the same as always. It was me, Ricky, Jimmy Jackson, Jack Miller, and Cody Johnson. The buzzer sounded, making the butterflies in my stomach flutter even more. We all went to the center of the court. Jack, our center, was the one fighting for the jump ball. The time keeper put eight minutes on the clock. The ref threw the ball up, and Jack tipped it back to me. The first round of the tournament was under way. I caught the ball and started jogging towards the key.

I saw Ricky open on the left side of the key. I threw it to him and cut to the basket. Ricky saw me. He faked a shot, making his defender jump a little, then bounced it to me as I was running to the hoop. I caught it, but their forward was waiting for me. I passed it behind my back to Jimmy, who was all alone on the outside right part of the key. Their forward had made the mistake of picking me up, but leaving Jimmy all alone. Jimmy shot an outside three, and... oh yeah, nothing but net. The whole game we were on fire. Ricky would pass me give and gos, and I would score layups on their forwards AND centers. My defender never caught up with me on those plays. We did alley-oops to Jack, who could jump high enough to slam it home. Ricky, Cody, our small forward, and I were the ones knocking down the threes. Jimmy and Jack were playing great in the paint, making mid-range shots and easy layups. But as well as we were playing, they were still able to answer back. Their point guard wasn't the fastest kid in the world, but the guy could shoot.

He would back me up to the free throw line, turn, and shoot fadeaways with my hand in his face. We were up by two points with ten seconds in the fourth quarter. I had the ball, dribbling it around just so I could make sure they didn't get the ball back before the game ended. The buzzer sounded, it was over. We had won the first round of the tournament, and it was nuts in there. The team and fans went bonkers, except for one person walking towards the exit. Zia was still there. I had to watch out for her. After everything had calmed down, I went outside to go home. I was surprised to see my Uncle Rick standing at his car with a serious expression on his face.

"Hey Uncle Rick," I said, happy to see him. "Did you see me play?"

"Sure did," Uncle Rick said, this time with a smile on his face. 'You kicked some serious tail out there Chris."

"So, are you taking me home today?" I asked.

Mom and Dad had to work late, so they weren't at the game. Bummer.

"Sure am," he replied. "C'mon, let's go ahead and hit the road."

I walked to the front passanger seat of Uncle Rick's car and got in. I put my seatbelt on and sat back. I then saw something out of the rearview mirror that horrified me.

"_Hah-ri!"_

A second later, darkness overwhelmed me.


	6. Chapter 6: Kidnapped by my Uncle

**-Chapter 6: Kidnapped by my Uncle-**

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My _ba _decided to take a little trip. I was floating right above Uncle Rick's car, and I could still see my body, my head laying back. I was drooling too, which didn't surprise me. I'm sure everyone drools every once in a while. [Sadie just said she never drools. Carter said she does all the time. Ha, Sadie just hit Carter in the head.] I looked to the backseat and saw Zia eating a salad from McDonalds. Uncle Rick had a big mac.

"If they didn't get me anything, I'm gonna be pissed," I said to no one. A few seconds later, I started to drift in the oppisite direction of the car. It looked like the magical current was taking me back to Eagle Ridge. I put myself in a position where I was floating on my back. I figured I might as well just kick back and relax while the magic did its work. I would have time to be pissed at Uncle Rick and Zia when I woke up. After a few minutes had gone by, I found myselft in Kelly's front yard. The sun was starting to set, which meant it had been a little while since the basketball game had ended. I willed myself to land on the ground, so I could control my movement. I started walking towards the front porch, just as Kelly stepped out with her cell phone held to her ear.

A few seconds went by, followed by Kelly's annoyed sigh.

"Chris, call me as soon as you get this message. There's something important I need to tell you," she said, leaving a message for me.

She put her phone in the pocket of her sleep pants and started to open the front door, when suddenly a voice cut through the silent night.

"Having some trouble, Granger?"

Some dude in linen robes appeared from the left side of the Grangers' house. He had a smug grin on his pale skinned face. He had short brown hair and was tall, but thin.

"Josiah," Kelly said, as if the name left a bad taste in her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

"Aw. You don't sound like you're happy to see me. I thought we were buddies, girl."

"I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

I wished I could have gone up to that stupid Josiah dude and knocked the crap out of him, but sadly, I was a little too far away to do him any physical harm.

"Desjardins wanted me to check on our little prodigy. Just to see how the Riker boy's coming along."

"Why now? We weren't supposed to officially recruit him until the end of March. That's about a month and a half from now."

"Call it a routine checkup," Josiah said as he juggled one of Kelly's soccer balls with his feet.

"Desjardins doesn't know you're here, does he?" Kelly said, putting her hands on her hips. "He's not the type to send people to just 'check up' on how another magician's mission is going."

"Well," the thin boy said. "Guess I just got a little bored. So where is Riker right now?"

"Probably out to eat with his family," Kelly replied. "I haven't seen him since the basketball game."

"Middle school basketball isn't over yet?" Josiah asked, puzzled.

"It is, but there's a tournament going on."

I'm not sure what happened after that, as the magic current decided to be a jack-ass and take me somewhere else. I was in front of a warehouse that looked like it had been forgotten long ago. I looked around, and immediatly knew I was in Brooklyn. My family had sometimes gone to Brooklyn to visit my cousins and aunts, and sometimes on business trips for Dad's work. I then noticed that I was starting to float towards the top of the warehouse, and was totally shocked at what I saw up there. A mansion, The Twenty-First Nome. It looked exactly like Carter and Sadie Kane had described in their recording. I walked into the mansion and saw a light skinned girl sitting on the couch, flipping through a magezine. I was looking at Sadie Kane. In the kitchen sat an african-american boy, watching TV on the little television set that rested on the counter, and eating a slice of pizza.

I walked a little closer to Sadie, and I gotta tell you, she looked guilty as hell. She kept biting her nails and drumming her fingers on the coffee table. It was like she had failed a test, and was dreading the moment her parents found out.

"Sadie, the pizza's getting cold in here. You know it doesn't taste as good when you have to microwave it," Carter said, right before he took another bite.

"Not hungry right now. I'll just get something later," Sadie replied, flipping through her magezine, trying to look normal.

Carter shrugged, then got up and went to the fridge. He grabbed a can of gingerale, then sat back down and got another slice of pizza. Sadie closed her magezine and started walking towards a hallways with a few different rooms. I figured following her would be more fun than watching Carter stuff his face. I followed her into a room that probably belonged to her. A cat rested on the bed, purring softly. I guessed that the cat was probably Muffin, the former host of Bast. Sadie sat down at a chair that was placed in front of a desk with an HP laptop resting on it. She clicked a few times, tapped on the key board a little, and a confused look came over her face. I looked over her shoulder to see she had an e-mail. An e-mail from Rick Malone.

Uncle Rick had sent Sadie an e-mail? I started to feel a little scared at what this could mean. Sadie clicked on the message, and I looked over her shoulder and read along with her. The message said:

_Hello Sadie Kane. You probably don't know me, but I assure you that your brother does. I am one of the ones he sent your story to. I am currently on my way to The Twenty-First Nome, and I am accompanied by Chris Riker and Zia Rashid. I am sending this to you from a gas station, and am probably maybe an hour from your location. Please be ready for our arrival and be prepared for anything, as we could have House of Life magicians following us. I look forward to meeting the two of you._

_-Rick Malone_

Sadie ran into the living room, frantically calling Carter's name. I started to follow her, but my vision of The Twenty-First Nome was starting to get fuzzy, and I knew that my _ba _was being called back to my body.

_-Later-_

My eyes snapped open. I looked around, wondering where I was, then saw that I was still in Uncle Rick's car. It was parked at a Burger King, and I could see Zia and Uncle Rick through the window at the cash register. Zia was dressed like a regular American, with tight fitting blue jeans and a New York Yankees jacket. I looked down at myself to see that I still had on my Soaring Eagles basketball uniform. I then noticed how cold it was, so I opened my gym bag and pulled on my warm up sweats, which wasn't easy with shoes on while in a sitting position. I then heard the doors unlock, and a second later, Uncle Rick handed me a Burger King bag.

"Eat," he said as he started the ignition. "You need youur strength."

When I saw him, my anger got the best of me. I snapped.

"Uncle Rick, what the hell is going on here?" I shouted. "And why is she here?" I pointed at Zia, who just gave me a blank stare.

"Chris," Uncle Rick started. "I think you know exactly what's going on. I know you got the tape, and I know you know the story. Well, you're about to be a part of it."

"Bull crap," I said. "There's no way I can be some Egyptian descendent. I don't have anything that resembles Egypt, no amulet, no bracelet, nothing!"

"And there is a reason for that," my uncle replied. "A reason you must wait to hear about, but right now we must get you to The Twenty-First Nome. That is the safest place for you know."

"But-"

"No buts! Now they charged me a fortune for that food, so please for the love of God, don't waste it."

Uncle Rick hit the gas pedal, and we were off to Brooklyn. I wasn't just listening to the highlights this time. I was in the game, and for the first time in my life, I wasn't sure if I wanted to play.

And so we go.


	7. Chapter 7: Seperations and Realizations

**-Chapter 7: Seperations and Realizations-**

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[Gimme the freakin' mic] Hey, guess who's back? Anyway, I guess I'm gonna pick up right where Chris left off.

As I sat on the couch with a plate of pizza, watching Sportscenter, Sadi to me! e came running into the room, yelling my name repeatedly.

h"Whoa," I said. "How about you chill out a little?"

She stared daggers into me. Man, if looks could kill. I then saw the frantic gleam return to her eyes.

"Carter, listen to me! It's the Riker guy! He's on his way here, NOW!"

I was on my feet in a fraction of a second.

"Huh?" I cried in disbelief. "How the heck is that possible?"

"It's that Rick Malone guy! He somehow got a hold of him, and now he's coming straight to us!"

Excitement filled just about every blood cell in my body. This was huge for us in our quest to stop Apophis from rising, and making sure The House of Life couldn't overpower us.

"When are they gonna be here?" I asked, still pumped up.

"About an hour," came the reply. "But that's not all. He's also got-"

"Hold up," I said. "You hear that?"

Both of us went silent. Yep, there was definitely some noise that hadn't been there a second ago. It sounded like the engine of a car. Sadie and I went to the front door. I swung it open, and we both ran outside to see a black BMW parked near the warehouse that had the Twenty-First Nome on top of it.

"That's weird," Sadie muttered. "He said they wouldn't be here for another hour."

I immediatly sensed that something wasn't right. The passenger and driver doors opened, and two men in black suits wearing shades exited from the BMW.

"I don't suppose Riker looks like he's about forty years old?" I asked.

"No chance," Sadie said, panic clearly in her voice.

Who were these guys? They didn't look at all like magicians or anything we'd encountered since this whole mess started. It seemed like they could not see that the Twenty-First Nome was right over their heads. I heard a ringtone cut through the silence. One of the men retrieved a cell phone from his pocket.

"This is Jack Miller speaking," the man said into his phone.

Miller paused for a few seconds, then resumed speaking.

"Yes. Mike Garner and I have arrived in Brooklyn in search of Chris Riker and the Kanes." Another pause. "Yes sir, we are about to start the search of the Twenty-First Nome. Our resources show that that is where they reside."

Sadie and I exchanged terrified expressions.

Miller muttered a few more words that I couldn't hear, then pocketed his phone. He turned to the older looking man, who must have been Mike Garner.

"I can sense them close by," Garner said. "Oh yes, I can sense their massive power levels aroundthis area. We must find them before the House of Life does."

"Where should we start the search?" The younger Jack Miller asked.

"Not sure," his partner replied. "Maybe we should check into the hotel first."

Miller nodded, and they turned to go into the hotel that was across the street from the warehouse.

Who are those guys?" Sadie asked after they were out of our line of vision. "They definitely don't look like any magician I've ever seen before. BMWs? Black suits? Phones? Gimme a break."

It seemed like other magician organizations were starting to make themselves visible. It was hard enoguh trying to keep the House of Life off our backs, but I wasn't sure if we could handle them and these new guys.

Sadie and I went back into the mansion, just to make sure those guys didn't catch us snooping on them. Thirty minutes came and went, while I was on the couch watching a Lakers game, and Sadie was sitting on the floor, holding Muffin in her lap.

"Think they went somewhere else?" I asked after the first quarter had ended.

Sadie just shrugged, keeping her eyes on Muffin. I had sort of lost interest in the game, as the Lakers had jumped out to a 34-13 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers, with Kobe Bryant scoring seventeen first quarter points, being 6-6 from the field, and 5-5 in three-pointers. I then heard more engine sounds. Was it Miller and Garner again? I got up and walked over to the window and stared out into the night. I saw a blue SUV pull up behind the BMW. I wondered who that could be, then remembered.

_Oh crap._

If Chris Riker was in that car, then Miller and Garner would easily spot him! As if on cue, the black suited magician men exited the hotel building, and it looked like Miller had a nasty looking grin on his face! Chris didn't have a chance against those guys.

"We've got to help them!" Sadie shouted, who had joined me at the window.

She didn't need to tell me twice. We opened the front door and padded out into the yard above the warehouse. I saw three figures exit the SUV. A man, a boy, and a girl. It was way too dark to make out their features.

I saw the man point towards the warehouse.

"We're here," he said. "Chris, come here and I'll help you get up there."

As Chris Riker walked over to the man, I saw Miller draw a wand from his pocket. I had no choice but to make my presence known.

"Hey! Look out behind you!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The man and Chris whirled around to see Miller and Garner, while the two black suited magicians focused their gazes on Sadie and I.

"Well, what do we have here?" Garner sneered. "Looks like we've got the three most powerful magicians in one place, all ready to go."

"Who the hell are you!" Chris Riker shouted at the two men.

It looked like Chris wasn't afraid to stand up to two guys who could probably turn him to dust in a heartbeat.

"Uh, Uncle Rick, where'd she go?" Chris asked, referring to the girl, who seemed to have wandered off.

I then saw that she was on the ground, at a grinning Jack Miller's feet. He raised his wand, and my feet became somehow stuck to the ground. I couldn't move at all! This guy had freakin' used a spell without even reciting it. I knew then that these guys were huge trouble. Nobody else could move either, Miller had trapped us all.

"Clever move, my friend," the man known as Rick said. "But I planned for this."

Well, that sounded pretty good to me. Rick pulled a wand from his pocket and raised it high, the tip glowing with a gold aura. Miller's grin suddenly disappeared, and Mike Garner looked absoulutely furious. It was Rick's turn to smile. Four streams of light exploded from the wand, and two of them were headed straight towards Sadie and I! The light hit me, and darkness was the only thing that followed, along with muffled threats from Jack Miller and Mike Garner.

_-Later-_

As soon as I opened my eyes, it was very clear to me that I was no longer in Brooklyn. I was laying on my back on a sidewalk, sunlight pouring over me, but it was Winter, so that didn't make a big difference in how cold it was. I was aware of a body resting a few feet to my left. I stood up, my back stiff from apparently sleeping on a sidewalk all night long. I looked down at the body. It was a girl, but it wasn't Sadie. She had shoulder length black hair, and she seemed awfully familiar. She had on tight blue jeans and was wearing a New York Yankees jacket.

She was resting on her side, so I turned her over on her back to get a look at her face. I'm sure the expression on my face was pretty priceless when I saw who it was that had been resting next to me.


End file.
